The plastic dagger on the left was found with a body scanner at Detroit Metro Airport. A passenger had it hidden in the hemline of her shirt. The other items were found at other airports. / TSA

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

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A suspicious item that appeared to be an IED was detected in a carry-on bag at Detroit (DTW). It was determined that the bag contained a gel-filled wave machine, power adapter, alarm clock and stand for the waqve machine all wrapped in a thick layer of newspaper and black duct tape. / TSA

A bowling pin is one of the many items found by TSA at airports. The items are gathered and auctioned online. / Department of Technology, Management & Budget

They’re among the items left behind by travelers passing through security in Michigan airports. People either forgo the option of returning some prohibited items to a car — opting to catch their plane instead — or forget them all together in the rush of putting their shoes on, gathering luggage from the conveyer belt and collecting items from the plastic tubs.

“Anything you might think to pack in a carry-on bag or laptop bag ... people inevitably forget it or leave it behind at the checkpoints because they can’t have it,” said Kristi Thompson, director of Logistics and Operations Support for the state Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

The department gets the items from the Transportation Security Administration and sells them to the highest bidder in online auctions or to people who shop its surplus store located in Lansing. Some of the items come from Detroit Metro Airport and others from regional airports throughout the state including those in or near Saginaw, Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Traverse City.

“We get boxes and boxes and boxes,” she said.

The items are sorted through, and those with higher values go up for auction on http://mibid.bidcorp.com while others are sold at deeply discounted prices during public days at the store. Some of the jewelry is held onto a little longer to give people extra time to claim it.

“We’re like a local eBay almost,” Thompson said.

Things they are inundated with, like knives, have even been sold by the pound, or may go for 50 cents to $1. Other items prohibited in carry-on luggage and left behind by passengers, like baseball bats and hammers, also are turned over.

“Our charge is to keep these items off of aircraft,” TSA spokesman Jon Allen said. “Turning them over to state surplus agencies gets us out of the long-term business of having to store and process and handle these items.”

A public day for the store likely will take place again toward the end of the year, but the date has not been set yet.

The Department of Technology, Management & Budget doesn’t just sell items it receives from the TSA, but other items as well including those that are no longer needed by state government, such as office equipment and furniture. During the 2012 fiscal year, the store netted nearly $63,000, state officials said. Some of that money covered costs associated with selling the items while the rest gets put back into the state budget, officials said.

Suspicious, dangerous items

Not everybody is forthcoming with what they have, and some don’t voluntarily leave it behind.

Michigan travelers have brought hundreds of items deemed dangerous and illegal or considered suspicious to airports, which can lead to arrest and criminal charges. TSA agents have discovered many items at security checkpoints and chronicle some of the more unusual finds in a blog.

Among the items found at Detroit Metro Airport last year, according to the blog found at http://blog.tsa.gov:

■ A pocket knife wrapped in foil kept in a plastic bottle of foot powder

■ A stun gun disguised as a smartphone

■ A pocketknife wrapped in cloth hidden at the bottom of a stick of deodorant

■ A plastic dagger into a hemline

■ A suspicious item that first appeared to be an improvised explosive device found in a carry-on bag later determined to be a gel-filled wave machine, power adapter and alarm clock wrapped in newspaper and duct tape. A terminal was evacuated for nearly two hours as authorities investigated.

Detroit Metro Airport authorities said major check point violations resulted in more than six dozen arrests for people possessing weapons like guns, knives, stun guns and brass knuckles last year. In addition, police gave 54 citations..

“The number one excuse is ‘Oops I forgot,’ ” said Detroit Metro Airport spokesman Scott Wintner.

It’s an excuse that often doesn’t fly.

“A responsible gun owner doesn’t forget that their gun is in the bottom of their purse or in the bottom of their bag,” Wintner said.

Passengers pack heat

Already this year, TSA agents have found 13 guns with passengers going through security at Metro Airport, Allen said. Last year, 28 guns were found by TSA agents at security checkpoints at Detroit Metro. Nationwide, the number was 1,556 with more than $1.8 million in civil penalties assessed, he said.

“Regardless of whether there is any criminal charge that results,” Allen said, “somebody who brings a gun to a checkpoint will receive a civil penalty from TSA.”

Guns, properly packaged and declared, are allowed in checked baggage.

Security violations represent just a fraction of the of 9,894,847 passengers who passed through security at Metro Airport in 2012.

Last week, Metro Airport authorities confiscated a kubotan, a stick often used for self-defense, and arrested a person who brought a butterfly knife and brass knuckles with him at a security checkpoint, Wintner said.

“If you check with TSA.gov or their mobile app prior to departure, there’s a pretty extensive database there that explains in good detail what you can and can’t bring on board,” Wintner said.